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Jury duty; no knitting needles allowed. Halp.

CalicaCalica Registered User regular
I have jury duty tomorrow. I also have ADHD. Knitting is my hobby, but it's also the activity that lets me stay calm and focused - and keeps me from wanting to crawl out of my skin - during things like lectures, tabletop roleplaying games, work meetings, etc. Without it, I get very impatient waiting for people to finish talking already, and my mind wanders. Also I kind of want to snap at everyone.

Knitting needles and crochet hooks are explicitly on the list of items prohibited in the courthouse.

Now what?

Posts

  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
    macrame bracelets? Tomorrow isn't much lead time to order something to work with, so It might be hard to effectively recommend anything without knowing what materials you are prepared to work with, and what else is on the list. macrame bracelets seem like it would be similar-ish but needle less.

    Adult coloring books are now sold nearly everywhere, including grocery stores, so you could get a small one and color some mandalas.

    I'm not sure if you are just looking for alternatives here, without knowing much about your particular brain and ADHD, it feels like a shot in the dark. Have you already called to make sure its still on though? Both times my number came up I was dismissed without going in.

  • OrogogusOrogogus San DiegoRegistered User regular
    Is the question more about what to do if you're selected to sit on a jury, and not so much what to do in the jury lounge? Because the courtroom could be rough. In the lounge you could read books, surf the web on a phone, listen to music, play handheld games, work on crosswords or sudoku, etc. But I imagine you won't be able to do any of that in a courtroom, and the whole thing is talking, often dreadfully predictable and boring.

    In San Diego, the back side of the jury summons has a list of conditions that will exclude you from jury duty, and I think you can bring that with you on the first day, and they'll review those and let people go (or not). Otherwise, if you get picked then you can raise this issue in the courtroom when they're interviewing people and weeding them out at the beginning of the process.

  • zepherinzepherin Russian warship, go fuck yourself Registered User regular
    I’d take a fidget spinner and make sure on your jury questionnaire that you put you have a disability that makes you unable to focus and you need frequent breaks.

  • CalicaCalica Registered User regular
    edited September 2020
    I confirmed I have to go in. I'm looking for alternative activities, yeah. I have the inattentive type, without hyperactivity; so fidget spinners and similar toys don't help (plus they drive other people crazy). Adult coloring books and other free-form creative activities encourage my mind to wander. Macrame/friendship bracelets would be a possibility, except it would be a new skill and thus take too much concentration.

    I can read a book, etc. when I'm waiting to find out whether I'll be selected. I'd like to knit while I'm waiting, sure; but I need to knit (or something) during the trial and deliberation.

    Frequent breaks don't help much. Asking me to focus without something to do with my hands is like asking me to swim with my hands tied behind my back: pulling me out of the water every so often is well and good, but it doesn't help me when I'm actually in the water.

    I did put on the form that I have ADHD and that knitting is how I maintain focus during lectures, meetings, and social gatherings.

    edit: I didn't look for alternatives earlier because I naively assumed it wouldn't be an issue.

    Calica on
  • mtsmts Dr. Robot King Registered User regular
    knitting pencils?

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  • CalicaCalica Registered User regular
    mts wrote: »
    knitting pencils?

    I'm seriously considering it, heh.

  • Inquisitor77Inquisitor77 2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club Champion A fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
    edited September 2020
    I don't want to come off as accusatory, as everyone should be able to fulfill their civil obligations, but was this something you brought up during jury selection? If not, you may want to bring it up to the judge ASAP, as I'm fairly certain that judges have a significant amount of discretion when it comes to their courtroom proceedings. The court may already have experience with this concern and may already have methods available to help manage it as well.

    To add: I am deaf. This is something I would bring up in jury selection, and were I selected I would expect that the court would be willing and able to help me participate properly - for example, letting me sit closer to the action or hooking my hearing aid into the sound system. There's no point in having a juror who can't hear everything that's going on or asks for everything to be repeated constantly.

    Inquisitor77 on
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    I don't want to come off as accusatory, as everyone should be able to fulfill their civil obligations, but was this something you brought up during jury selection?
    Calica wrote:
    I did put on the form that I have ADHD and that knitting is how I maintain focus during lectures, meetings, and social gatherings.

  • Inquisitor77Inquisitor77 2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club Champion A fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
    Elvenshae wrote: »
    I don't want to come off as accusatory, as everyone should be able to fulfill their civil obligations, but was this something you brought up during jury selection?
    Calica wrote:
    I did put on the form that I have ADHD and that knitting is how I maintain focus during lectures, meetings, and social gatherings.

    Yes, it's been my experience that you have more than one opportunity, beyond the form, to bring up concerns as to why you may not be selected. In addition, once you are selected, you can continue to bring concerns up with the court. This would fall into that category. Unfortunately with things like this, simply mentioning something once in the intake form is often not enough, as each step of the bureaucracy is only concerned with their sphere of responsibility. If none of the lawyers or court officers involved feel that ADHD is a factor, then they may not be considering the actual practicalities at hand and assume that it will be taken care of when it needs to be taken care of.

    No one may be thinking about the fact that you can't bring needles into the courthouse when they are assessing whether ADHD, as a condition, precludes you from participating in a jury. Calica should bring it up again in case a special consideration can be made or if they can provide alternatives. This way the burden isn't taken up by them on their own.

  • CalicaCalica Registered User regular
    edited September 2020
    Update: I brought it up during voir dire when they asked, and the judge was fine with it; but getting knitting needles through security would still have been a problem. My plan was to buy plastic needles and start a project I wouldn't mind losing, but as it turned out I wasn't selected anyway.

    Thanks for the suggestions/advice, everyone :smile:

    (I did get stopped by security for a tiny eyeglass repair kit lodged in a small interior pocket in my backpack; I had long since forgotten it was there. They were super cool about it; they told me basically to go leave it somewhere and then come back. I think my visible confusion on being told I had "scissors" in my backpack might have helped :razz: )

    Calica on
  • mtsmts Dr. Robot King Registered User regular
    yea the last time i was in a court building I apparently left a pocketknife in a pocket. They didn't really like that.

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  • zepherinzepherin Russian warship, go fuck yourself Registered User regular
    Apparently outside of certain courthouses you can find all kinds of pocket knives buried outside when people thought they would be able to get them after...and forgot or were detained.

  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    Arm knitting?

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • CalicaCalica Registered User regular
    Arm knitting?

    Not very portable, expensive as hell, and the final product turns to shit very quickly because it's pure roving, i.e. wool fluff that is not yarn :razz:

  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited October 2020
    zepherin wrote: »
    Apparently outside of certain courthouses you can find all kinds of pocket knives buried outside when people thought they would be able to get them after...and forgot or were detained.

    Found a steak knife in a bush outside airport security once. That was super weird. Not sure when they thought they were coming back for it?

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
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